Samichlaus Bier Helles (Limited Edition) | Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg

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Reviews by Danobold:

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positively onw of the most interesting beers ive ever tasted, and the friends i shared it with agree. it pours a really thick cloudy honey color, more red than gold, with a prominent two inch white head with solid retention. the nose is crazy, tons of residual sugar, spicy yeast, clove, and anise seed. the flavor is a little less on the spice, and a little more on the sugars. molasses, vanilla sugar, and even confectionary sugar. this beer is really sweet, but the interesting thing is that it doesnt last and rot the teeth. it has a surprisingly quick finish for how big it is. also surprising, is that the alcohol is hardly present until it gets up to about room temperature. must be all that lagering the keeps it mellow. tons of body, tons of strength. i can see this being a perfect post-church christmas eve beer amongst loved ones. in any other context, its almost too much. buy this if you see it though, nothing else like it.

Appearance - This looks nothing like the original. It is a deep, shiny, bronzish brown with orangish-brown highlights and again little head.

Smell - This is a rich, intense, woody nose with a bit of scotch. Much to the brewer's credit the DB aroma is actually here and very much on-style except of course it is multiplied by 1,000. There's also a light medicine cabinet with the aura of a finely-aged triple sec.

Taste - This is like a mild liqueur. It is very sweet, the sugars are like those you find in an aged liqueur, but there's a nice whisky flavor to this as well. On top of all that though there is a very meaty middle here that says, "Hey, I'm a malty Doppelbock." The DB flavor in this case is surprisingly and inexplicitly right on for the style. It's that one-dimensional molasses-based bockish flavor that is just one component of this beer but really stands out.

Mouthfeel - This is medium-bodied with no sense of alcohol (hahaha) and a liqueur-like finish that is long as it is intense.

Drinkability - This is not a chugger but by the same token gives off little sense of its true (alcoholic) power. Think of this as sipping a fine, barrel-aged liqueur and you will appreciate. It is just true enough though to the style that by the time you finish you will feel like you drank a fine Doppelbock, which you did.

Found one bottle of this randomly on a road trip in January 2013, been aging since then.
A - a clear cedar red-brown, head fizzled almost immediately but to be expected given the ABV (and possibly the age), but a steady stream of carbonation rises from the bottom of the glass
S - plumb and raisin, toffee and general candy sweet aroma, slightly musty
T - sticky sweet flavours of candied plumbs, mild apricot, caramel malt, mild woody flavour, and a generally sweet finish
M - sticky sweet throughout, just a little flat but nothing serious, sticky mouth coating finish, no real trace of 14% ABV until waaay late when your insides feel warm and fuzzy
O - ridiculously drinkable for its heft, the sweetness is big but creates a nice stance against the alcohol, not sure if the extra aging made any difference since I only found the one bottle, but a quality brew either way

It's the Mid-Atlantic 2010 blizzard outside and this seems like the perfect choice to compliment it. After spending $1800 on car repair then getting snowed in, there's no better way to end the day than a 14%ABV Bock from Austria. It's starting to look like a blizzard out there, and I'm glad I'm inside.

The beer is a clear honey-amber hue with a one finger eggshell foam head. Slowly it settles to a rim along the glass, and leaves behind spots and strings of lace.

The aroma is a rather thick mix of raisin and hard-candy sugar, along with a generous amount of spicy alcohol. The hops add the slightest touch of an herbal aroma, but this beer is pretty malt-forward.

The feel of this beer is rather chewy, even with a slightly fizzy amount of carbonation and a rather strong alcohol bite. Overall, it's quite warming. More raisin and brown sugar meet a little bit of burnt caramel. The light alcohol burn almost makes the beer taste sweeter overall. The finish is almost like maple syrup - sweet and thick. Full bodied.

Considering its strength, it's rather drinkable. The bottle states this one can be aged for a while, and I can tell that is very possible. It's a great beer to end the day on, and reflect on what should be done the next day, such as walking around in 20 inches of snow.

Very pleasant surprise of a Christmas present from the wife who conspired with Chris from Boo's. Knowing how much I love Samichlaus, she picked up a few bottles and Chris gave. Heart breaking story bout all bottles being broken en route. Now I get a Christmas eve surprise.
Appearance: honey colored with a wispy head (as expected with a 14%'er.
Smell: Oaky, caramel, buttery goodness. Rich is an understatement.
Taste: more of the same. Oh my, plus honey nougat.
Overall: decadent goodness.

750ml bottle, allegedly lagered for 18 months before bottling. No sign of a bottling date.

The body is brilliantly clear, golden-copper in color. I'm hard-pressed to think of a more beautiful beer; the color is truly outstanding. The head is fleeting, however, leaving behind no lacing.

This smells very, very malty, though fairly mellow; there's prominent fruitiness reminiscent of peaches/nectarines and golden raisins, caramelized malt, lager yeast - not much to it overall, it's essentially a malt showcase. Very clean.

Incredibly sweet on the palate, and in a fairly one-dimensional way. Honey-like, lightly caramelized malts are dominant, and there isn't much more to it beyond a touch of sulfurous lager yeast. The body is syrupy, and there simply isn't enough flavor to justify the high ABV. With age and oxidation this may become more complex, but right now it's too simple and sweet to be particularly impressive.

2012 vintage. Coppery red and crystal clear, this one jumps right into the nose with currant, caramel, clove and a little banana. Taste goes a slightly different direction, as there is an immediate sweet cherry that morphs into a barley fueled biscuity yeast bubble gum banana finish. Body is light to medium with a quickly fading finish that leaves a sacharin sweet feeling on the tongue.

According to the label, this beer is in the Guinness book of world records for heaviest beer. Ive had heavier, but at 14% ABV, this is a SMOOTHE beer! This is easily one of the best beers I have ever drank. One 12 oz bottle will give you a bit of a buzz! This is an awesome beer. If you consider yourself a beer conossieur, you HAVE to try this, if you already havent!

Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a pint glass, 2011 limited edition. This pours a nice brown red color with a mid sized but very short lived off white color. The smell is very sweet, lots of fruit, dates, raisins, malty sugar. The feel is medium to thick. The taste is different a little over the top, loads of sugar, sweet fruit, some noticeable alcohol, absolutely no hop bite to counter act.

OMG!!! What a surprise this lager was. I don't usually like lagers at all.
We poured this at 55F for our 2nd anniversary.
The appearance is a clear amber.
The smell to me was not that great. It smells like a lager.
The taste was so much fun! It tastes like candy. Very sweet. It tastes like caramel candy.
The mouth feel was good. Good tongue coat.
As far as drinkability, this is a high alcohol beer, but we managed to finish the bottle by going to our next door neighbors and sharing. All of neighbors loved it. My husband says he could drink this til he dies!
This beer is similar to Olde School, but actually better. I thought this beer was delicious.